Sort By

Safe cosmetics are of the utmost importance, but this bill will not guarantee safe cosmetics. A company being able to pay out large sums of revenue to comply, or appear to comply, with this act in no way proves the ingredients used are safer than what has already been established under existing regulations.

This act would cause thousands of US businesses to close for failure to comply and limit the choices of all consumers.

While I appreciate the intent of HR 5786, the regulations suggested are far too overreaching. The FDA has a hard time enforcing the regulations that DO exist. How will they handle the influx of duties this new law could create? Natural products, especially innovative ones being developed by “Green” companies require constant experimentation. This bill would require changes to be documented and reported each time they are made. It will require documents to be filed each time a home-based natural soap crafter changes suppliers to get better pricing on raw ingredients. This will cause small businesses to close, at a time when our nation’s people desperately need work. Reform is needed, but in order for this bill to be useful, it needs to be re-written to not penalize Green Businesses who are already using safe, natural oils (olive, coconut) and other natural ingredients in their products. Lumping us into the same boat as the corporate, hazardous chemical using behemoths is not the answer.

just went to your blog- (http://www.barsoapnatural.com/blog/)and saw your other posts about this. when will people learn that you don’t support bills just because you’d like to see some sort of reform happen. You have to look at the CONTENT of the bill, too, and ask, “Is THIS the reform we wanted?” Say NO to HR 5786. Other bills can be written that will BETTER ADDRESS the reform needs of this issue.

This bill contains language that places an overwhelming burden on small cosmetics manufacturers, many of whom already adhere to higher standards of ingredients. HR 5786 would greatly jeopardize the existence of small businesses in this industry at a time when the U.S. arguably needs these businesses to support its economy more than any other time in its history. As it is written, this bill will put out of business those very people who are giving consumers the option of buying safe, affordable, fresh and natural cosmetics made in small controlled batches.

This bill will not benefit consumers and cosmetic manufacturers as proponents of this bill would have you believe. Opponents of this bill have the science to back our stance, not to mention the thousands of small businesses, mostly women owned, that stand to lose the American Dream.

This is a bad bill for small businesses that can’t keep up with the documentation and reporting demands. Why is there no distinction being made for businesses that are already using safe ingredients? Why not just ammend the current lists of unsafe ingredients and actually enforce the rules that already exist? The companies that offer safe products are going to be the ones hurt by this bill. Big businesses have resources at their disposal to comply with new regulations. Small, entrepreneurial businesses do not. And that YouTube video by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics??? Please. That was nothing but fearmongering aimed at an uneducated public.

Dumb the message down, and add a cute, cartoon-style “education,” and you’ll win over 80% of the public, no matter what the message is. Small businesses need to make their own cartoon and post in on YouTube. That would get the opposition going!!

This will put many people out of business. I run a small herbal bath and body company that i am just getting off the ground. I only use safe natural ingredients, but this bill will put me out of business. the larger company’s that can afford this, do not offer truly home made organic products.

I find it very suspicious that this bill is getting traction after over 70 years. Now that small inovative companies, and green companies are competing and taking market share from large companies, this bill emerges. This is deceptive, as big business will use this bill to crush up-start companies. There is an ENTIRE lobby movement behind this, and is not being honest concerning the actual bill. There needs to be reform to safeguard health, but this bill DOES NOT DO THAT. It does not even limit the chemicals used in products.

I support this bill. It truly is a matter of safety. Just because one uses safe ingredients does not make a product safe. Testing should be done on products to determine safety before they are made available to the public. A keen knowledge of product formulation is necessary and there are many people selling products without that knowledge, unfortunately.

This is not about putting mom and pop operations out of business. This is about transparency so consumers truly know what they are buying.
We really have no regulation of this industry in the US. It is a matter of SAFETY. I want a FULL disclosure of ingredients. I want to know if someone is using TAP water in their products and filling it with people’s disposed medications that are ending up in that lotion….I want to know if there is formaldehyde.

I have read every page of this bill. Is is PERFECT? No, but it is much better than what there is now. This is needed.

It doesn’t matter what the bill is supposed to be ABOUT. It matters what the bill DOES. Safety is important, but there are limits to what we should do to ensure it (would you kill your children for safety? No? Then you have a limit somewhere.) Reasonable people can disagree about where to draw that line. But I think that when there’s real economic suffering out there that could be alleviated by home businesses making cosmetics that are probably safe without a lab’s stamp of approval, and we’re banning them in the name of “Safety” or your desire to know about formaldehyde, I think we’ve gone too far.

Au contrare, chicky – there is SIGNIFICANT regulation in the personal care industry! The FDA is constantly overseeing manufacturers and their processes for safety. People need to take responsibility for their own actions – and that includes reading the labels (which are regulated by the FDA!) for ingredients that they want or don’t want to put on their skin. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY is key! You don’t need to devastate an entire industry of small businesses to make sure you are safe!

This bill shows that Rep. Schakowsky has learned some lessons from the CPSIA debacle, but one she evidently hasn’t learned is that you can KILL an entire sector of small businesses with regulation. If you start reading this bill at Section 612, it sounds perfectly reasonable. It’s when you take 30 seconds to think about how a cottage business would implement this that you realize it’s completely impossible. Businesses aren’t infinitely adaptable, and when they find it not cost-effective to do business, they shut down and throw people out of work.

When CPSIA almost closed down my business, I was surprised to learn that about half of businesses are one-man operations, and about 3/4 of businesses have fewer than 20 employees. People think that industries like cosmetics or children’s products are dominated by big corporations, but they’re not. If you eliminate all the small operations, you’ve pretty much wiped out the industry. Stop this madness now, or your industry will be next!

Fabulous posts are going up at Personal Care Truth in regards to H.R.5786 – Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. Read the latest how Stacy Malkan avoids the really tough questions and cherry picks the comments allowed on her blog, which is her right. However, consumers deserve all the information to make an informed decision. Not just what you want them to believe.

The Truth, The Whole Truth or Anything But the Truth? http://personalcaretruth.com/2010/08/the-truth-the-whole-truth-or-anything-but-the-truth/

I work for an amazing mineral cosmetic line, Mahya Mineral Cosmetics. WE pride ourselves in providing the safest and purest mineral cosmetics to our customers. WE do believe in making a product free of any harmful and irritating ingredients ( parabens, bismuth, talc, fillers) yet because we are a smaller business we would not be able to pay all these fees that would be required for us to stay in business if this bill passes. We have been around for 10 years and have a loyal customer base and if this act goes through then me and 1000’s of others will be out of a job and many consumers will be out of their favorite products. This is the last thing we need in the economy we are in… putting small companies out of business…please oppose this bill…

I make and sell biodegradable hand washes and traditional soaps using high quality, sustainable ingredients. This bill will be the end of my company – and the end of handcrafted, earth-friendly, local AND SAFE products.

This bill does not benefit the consumer. While it sounds good and has a great title, it’s contents is far reaching and detrimental. It takes away consumer choice and increases costs to everyone – especially the consumer without actually BENEFITTING the consumer.

I support safe cosmetics. I MAKE safe cosmetics. This bill is based on scaremongering – not science. Not data.

I own Skin Body Works Cosmetic and Soap Company, this bill would end my business. Isn’t it bad enough that there are NO JOBS in this country, now you want to take what we small business cosmetic and soapmakers have worked so hard for!

We have to fight big business every day, and now YOU want to make it easier for BIG BUSINESS to take over. The fees alone will shut down most all cosmetic and soapmaking businesses! YOU the FDA who’s panel is made up of Employees and Ceo’s of companies like; REVLON, MAX FACTOR, MAYBELLINE.. etc… and the likes.

IT’S NOT FAIR! “We the People” means ‘WE THE PEOPLE’

I am all for safe cosmetics! But I am not for this bill, there is no clear cut data present.

I formulate professional skin care products that are manufactured for us. An understanding of the ingredients that are used in skin care products are, indeed, needed, but without the “scare factor” that special interests seem to need to use in order to get their way and the ear(s) of congress who have no clue about science or manufacturing or, in fact, JOBS and those that will indeed be lost if this bill is enacted. DIG DOWN AND DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE – READ THIS DANGED BILL AND SEE WHAT YOU WILL DO TO AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY!!!

Top-Rated Comments

OpenCongress allows anyone to follow legislation in Congress, from bill introduction to floor vote. Learn more about issues you care about and connect with others who share similar views.
OpenCongress was founded by the Participatory Politics Foundation in 2007 and operated as a joint project with the Sunlight Foundation until May 2013.

Founded in 2006, the Sunlight Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for open government globally and uses technology to make government more accountable to all. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more.

Like this project and want to discover others like it?

Join the Sunlight Foundation's open government community to learn more.